In 2022, Gerald Malloy entered politics for the first time in pursuit of a rare open Vermont U.S. Senate seat, as Patrick Leahy retired. He won the Republican primary against Christina Nolan and Myers Mermel, going on to lose to Democratic Congressman Peter Welch. Welch defeated Malloy 68 to 28 percent. Now, Malloy is ready to try again. He tells WAMC North County Bureau Chief Pat Bradley he’s running for many of the same reasons he did two years ago:
Running in '22 was a great experience. First time running for office. I think I made great strides. I learned a ton. And just to get right to it, I think we're worse off. That's one of the reasons I ran back in 2002. I didn't like the direction the country was going in. And you look now and of course there's two wars. And we have a, you know, an open border and a drug problem and a crime problem and a homeless problem. And I think things are worse. And I looked at my potential opponent. And, you know, I had been thinking about it for a while. But I did. I made my announcement in December and the response to that has been fantastic. And I'm very excited to take what I learned from last time. The Republican Party's unified here in Vermont. We are going to make some strides in '24 and I want to be part of that for Vermont for our country.
So you've mentioned that you feel that the country is worse off and that you want to take what you learned in your campaign and move forward with that. So how have your policy perceptions changed since you challenged Democrat Peter Welch and how would that change your campaign moving forward?
Well, you know, I've met about 25,000 Vermonters by now, you know, through the campaign and through this last year. And what I see and the issues, you know, my senator, excuse me now Senator Welch, talked about some of the issues he thought were important for Vermonters. That's not what I'm seeing. It's about jobs. It's about safety. I think people want peace on earth. And a couple of things that I will look to do more this time is talk about my experience growing business, growing jobs, which is what I've been doing the last 15 years after my military career. Looking to grow innovation and technology jobs in Vermont. I know I can do that. Our congressional delegation here in Vermont is not doing that. Another thing is access. And you know, again, right now I just turned 62. You can look, my probable opponent will be 89-plus at the end of his next term if he were to win. I have the energy. I have the fight for Vermonters. And one of the things I made my announcement I pledge I'll visit every one of the 14 counties in Vermont at least once a year and I'll stay there two or three hours for a town hall and I'll listen and I'll actually act on the issues that are important Vermonters. It's absolutely not happening in Vermont right now. So that's just a couple of things. Along with, I didn't highlight this enough last year. Of course, now we're, you know, there's war in the Middle East. There's war in Europe. I've served in the Middle East. I've served in Europe. I've served in Asia. I've served in the Persian Gulf. I'm going to take all that experience and try to promote peace on earth, which, you know, for instance, last year, I talked about our government continuing to make deals supporting Iran. That's gone bad. You know, they're supporting terrorists. So you know, there's one thing I would look to do for the people of Vermont and the people of America.
Gerald Malloy, we don't know yet if Bernie Sanders will run for reelection. He's made no indication yet what his plans are. But he remains very, very popular. So if he runs again, why do you think you can win against him when despite his age, he still retains that level of popularity?
He is popular but you know here's what I will say. I know Bernie Sanders hasn't engaged 25,000 Vermonters in the last year and a half. I know that. I have. Vermonters are struggling and they're struggling to make ends meet. The cost of living here, we go to last year's forty-year high inflation was 22, 40-year high inflation. We still have inflation. We still have high energy costs. And really, you know, so Vermont you run a nice campaign and all that and I did that against Mr. Welch. But you know, Senator Sanders has been in Congress for 30 years. He's made a ton of promises. He hasn't delivered on them and Vermonters see that. And I just I think, you know, when I meet Vermonters I sense that they're ready to make a change. And it's not all that far-fetched in Vermont where we do have a very long history of having Republicans in Congress. Now it's been a while. But you know for 150 years we had nothing but Republicans in Congress.
If Senator Sanders chooses not to run why do you believe you would be the best choice over any other competitor from any of the other parties? Because in Vermont it's not always just Republican/Democrat. We can get Progressives, Libertarians and all sorts of other third party candidates. Why do you think you would be the best choice over anybody else if Senator Sanders decides not to run?
Well, I would add Senator Sanders in that 'anybody' and I will tell you why. It's because and I think I can improve on relaying this to the people of Vermont. But four things really. It's leadership, demonstrated leadership. It's demonstrated. It's the experience that I actually have in the government, in military, in business. If you look at some of our congressional delegation, actually all of our congressional delegation, there's not much business experience there at all. Senator Sanders, particularly. And then there's performance for me. and I can go into a lot of details about my work performance and my military performance. And so I think if you look at those, those three areas alone, I am a better candidate. And I just got to, you know, get that out to the people of Vermont. And the last thing, you know, I would say is character. It's tough for me to sit here and talk about my own character. But you know going to West Point, and you know, I believe in duty, honor and country and service. And you know, I talked about this a little bit last year, right. I'd like to make it so that Vermonters are proud of their senator, all Vermonters not just a section of Vermonters, but all Vermonters are proud of their senator.
Gerald Malloy, you told the Vermont Daily Chronicle when you announced that you would run again for Senate in 2024, that you perceive a lack of leadership. And you just mentioned leadership in the congressional delegation for Vermont, but that you perceive a lack of leadership in Congress overall and that you don't see Congress or the state delegation making progress or delivering results. So I'm curious how you as a freshman senator could change that?
Well, you know, I am running as a Republican and I believe in the Republican Party platform. But be honest, when you look at it that $6 trillion of overspending in the last three years or so. Some Republicans have been part of that. And there's that piece and then look for instance at Burlington, Vermont, I love Burlington. I love all of Vermont. Burlington, the Queen City, it has a homeless crisis, a drug crisis, a crime crisis and it's been going on for a long time and it's just not getting better. And I will say part of that is because of the border, the open border and the drugs that are coming in. I think they're actually, you know, China's been part of funneling it in from the southern border and the northern border. And so I just see not enough being done to just solve those types of problems which are affecting, actually drugs killing Vermonters
Are there specific policies or bills in general that you would want to introduce as soon as you became a Senator?
Well if I were to be a senator, and I hope to have that that honor to serve Vermonters, I really think what this really boils down to is actually representing and serving Vermonters. So I talked about, you know, doing some things to have more access to their senator, with me. I would want to meet every other, every single, you know all 99 other US senators and develop relationships. I don't like the divisiveness and you know how polarized you know, frankly our country is in. I don't like that. We would want to work on that. I am, I would be, I would bring discipline. And of course, you see even right now, we have a $34 trillion debt. That's a 34 with 12 zeros next to it and it's gone up 50% In last five years. That's completely unsustainable. So I would look to instill some discipline in our spending. And also, you know, I talk about bringing jobs to Vermont. One of the things that I'm deeply opposed to is, with the current administration, is all this industrial policy meddling and subsidies, which is part of the overspending. We should have an open market and industry you know, will develop the innovation that we need without government meddling in it. So those are a couple of things that I would do right away. And the last thing I also mentioned about was trying to influence our government's actions for peace. Like I mentioned, I think it's high time we stopped funding, one way or another because we are right now, funding Iran which is funding terrorist organizations as we speak. So there's some, those are a few of the things I'd want to do right away.
Gerald Malloy, where do you place yourself as a Republican or does it kind of depend on the issue? I mean, you know, moderate, conservative, ultra conservative. It's one if it's fiscally oriented but another if it's foreign policy oriented or another if you're looking at abortion rights or something like that. Where do you place yourself within the Republican Party?
That's a good question. I, I would, I would say moderate. But I would also say conservative. And when I say conservative I look at that as wanting to make progress and I also look at that as someone who actually still believes in the United States Constitution. Because we have the executive branch, and that's another thing about I talked about leadership of Congress. You know, Congress watches as the President wants to spend $500 to 800 billion repaying student loan debts, you know, with your taxpayer dollars. That's not right. That's not how the Constitution is set up. And same thing with the border. That is causing a lot of problems in this country with the drugs and the crime, but we just continue to watch that. But I would say conservative in that respect. Yes, about abortion. I obviously talked a ton about that in the '22. campaign. I said early on at the very beginning when I made my announcement that I thought Roe v Wade, per the constitution 10th Amendment, should be overturned and it should be a state issue. And I realize it's a very controversial issue. It is a state issue and that's where I think it should be resolved. And I will go as far as saying I'm not supporting, if I am fortunate enough to be the US senator, I'm not supporting sweeping changes or law changes regarding abortion pro or con either way at the federal level. It is a state issue. I don't like the law on the books with Vermont right now, which allows abortion up to the moment birth. However Vermonters, myself included with my individual vote as a Vermonter, that's how we might look to change that over time. But I'm not going to bring it back up to the federal level because it is a state issue.
Have you formally kicked off your campaign? Are you actually holding...
Oh, yeah and I think with my background from West Point and having an MBA and being in business and my de facto foreign policy experience, boots on the ground, and you know, I'm a dad. I'm a Vermont parent with three in college now and one in high school so I'm not, not disconnected. Literally hundreds of people volunteered and helped me last year and they're all jumping at the bit, chomping at the bit, now to to get going and we're doing that. So it's very exciting.
Republican Gerald Malloy is the first candidate to announce a campaign in Vermont’s 2024 U.S. Senate race. Incumbent Independent Bernie Sanders has not announced whether he will run for a fourth term.
